Suits 6x16 Review: “Character and Fitness” (All’s Well That Ends Well) [Contributor: Jenn]

"Character and Fitness"

Original Airdate: March 1, 2017

One of the questions that we'll have to ask ourselves throughout our lives is: "What am I willing to pay for this?" On a literal level, we have to ask this question when we contemplate buying cars or purchasing homes. Is the debt that we'll be paying for the next few years worth the thing we're paying for? On a metaphorical level, we also have to answer this question — is the inevitable pain worth entering the relationship? Is speaking our mind at work worth the risk? "Character and Fitness" was a pretty solid finale for Suits, and it found our characters asking this question of themselves. Is it worth the risk for Mike to try and get into the Bar? Is the buyout worth Donna sacrificing her dream? Is Harvey willing to sacrifice his career for Mike's? Was Louis' honesty worth potentially costing him his relationship with Tara? How far are these characters willing to go in order to achieve their dreams?

BOOM. LAWYERED.

Let's talk about this episode's plot from a practical level first: Mike Ross is now officially on his way to becoming an official lawyer! Though the episode ends happily for him — with the promise of a career in being able to help people from the courtroom again — it doesn't begin that way. Mike and Harvey's biggest hurdle in the episode comes in the form of Anita Gibbs, whose presence on the character and fitness panel pretty much ensures the fact that Mike Ross will not be getting into the Bar. So Harvey and Mike divide and conquer in the episode: Harvey goes out in search of dirt on Walter Sampson (the guy who Anita replaced on the panel), while Mike decides to put that photographic memory to good use by studying every unique case of a former felon getting into the Bar.

But even though Mike hits the books to some good results (with back-up from Rachel, who also studied up on the Bar and knows that Mike is allowed a character witness — more on this later) and is able to hold onto his defense long enough in the first character and fitness hearing to ward off Anita Gibbs' bloodhound-like desire for justice, Harvey isn't having the same kind of luck. He keeps striking out when it comes to Sampson. Even the shady guy that Harvey and Louis approached for blackmail last week can't find anything on him. Harvey begins to genuinely panic, which is unnerving because we never see him shaken. This hearing is far too important for Harvey to bluff Sampson and have it backfire.

I actually really loved the fact that we see Harvey a bit unnerved in this episode. It reminds us that even though he's a superhero to pretty much everyone around him, even Harvey doesn't always have all the answers. Even he doubts himself sometimes. The important thing is that Harvey surrounds himself with people who remind him of his capabilities. In this case, that person is Donna (and let's be honest, it's usually ALWAYS Donna). She tells him that he is capable of getting dirt on anyone. In fact, she motivates him with these words: "Enough is enough. Go do what you do." This seems to stir something within Harvey, who goes to Sampson and threatens him. Harvey wants information, but the problem is that he's going about it the way he always does. There is one person in this episode who understands the value of playing the long game, which we will discuss momentarily.

The most important part of this episode though is when Harvey realizes he has nothing left to take Anita Gibbs down with. He's been rendered useless and yet he still has one more trick up his sleeve -- he hands over Liberty Rail intel to Anita Gibbs. There are no strings attached to the information, and Harvey does this to prove to Anita that if HE can change his ways, then so can Mike. She should believe him.

Anita Gibbs is ruthless though. I think she's one of the most interesting antagonists on Suits because for all intents and purposes, Anita represents the law. She represents doing things by the book — orderly, structured, and fairly.  But there is a darkness to Anita too. She's blinded by her pursuit for justice that she is willing to turn well-meaning people into long-suffering martyrs to make herself feel like the better person. Anita's biggest issue is that she's self-righteous. She's desperate to make someone pay for their crimes, and is insistent that people are black and white. But if anything, Suits proves that good people can do bad things and still remain essentially good. Villains aren't always totally evil, and the good guys don't always make the right choices.

So when Anita proposes a trade: she'll vote on admitting Mike into the Bar only if Harvey admits that he knew about Mike's fraud the whole time, which would strip him of his license. And... I'm not entirely surprised. And I'm also not surprised that Harvey seriously considers taking it. Rachel did say that if anything went wrong this time around, Harvey would have to be the one to take the fall for Mike. She would make sure of it. Harvey sacrificing something for Mike proves how much he cares about him. But falling on his sword now isn't heroic — it's stupid.

Louis and Mike tell Harvey as much. For one thing, Louis now relies on Harvey as a partner. That means that Harvey can't make decisions and then tell Louis about them; they make decisions as a team. And Mike would rather go back to jail than let Harvey take the fall for him. It's not worth it if it means losing his best friend. The scene between Harvey, Louis, and Mike is one of the best of the episode because it reminds us how far these men have come. They all have each others' backs now (even Harvey and Louis, shocker!), and have grown to realize that there are important things in their lives that they're unwilling to sacrifice. And that includes one another.

THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED TO HER KINGDOM (ONLY FOR A DAY)

Usually, I'll get press screeners for Suits. But the finale wasn't up by the time this episode aired live. And boy, I'm glad I got the chance to witness "Character and Fitness" live. Because Jessica Pearson returned to her kingdom.

Rachel, as I mentioned above, figures out a loophole for Mike in his hearing: he's allowed to have a character witness testify on his behalf. Mike seems to know exactly who he can ask to be his representative, and approaches Julius (welcome back, Malcolm-Jamal Warner!). Initially, Mike encounters an issue: Julius doesn't believe that Mike has changed. After all, the truth of the matter is that Harvey and Mike pulled some shady crap in order to get Mike into the Bar. How is doing this proving that Mike learned anything during his prison stint? Julius essentially says what we've all been thinking: Mike hasn't done a whole lot post-prison to prove that he's a changed man. He might want to believe he's different and better now — that he's doing all of this to help people — but is that really true? Honestly, I'm not always Mike Ross' biggest fan. Though I'm proud of the fact that he's sticking to his whole "I want to be better so I can do better for others" moral code, he didn't seem to learn anything from prison. He came out of it still pretty self-involved, which is definitely problematic.

As he is wont to do, Mike gives an impassioned plea to Julius, saying that his honesty is a step in the right direction: the old Mike Ross wouldn't have told Julius the truth about his less-than-ethical methods of trying to get back into the Bar. Because of this, Julius decides to testify at Mike's hearing. Even though I always seem to be on the fence about Mike as a character — I really don't think most of the life lessons he's supposed to have learned have actually stuck — I really enjoyed watching Julius shut Anita Gibbs up. He essentially tells her that if she's already made her mind up about Mike, she doesn't deserve to be on the character and fitness panel. DANG.

In spite of this, Anita isn't backing off easily. She'll do everything in her power to keep Mike from becoming a real lawyer. But then, the game changes. Jessica Pearson enters the room, with the flair and grace and poise that is reserved only for this woman. She defends Mike by reminding Anita of a time she once showed compassion to someone. And the person she showed compassion to is now a doctor, saving lives. If Anita hadn't done that, people wouldn't be alive today.

This seems to change Anita's tune, and she votes to let Mike into the Bar. It's unanimous: Mike is going to be a lawyer!

Fun fact though: Jessica told the story about Anita displaying compassion for a reason. Jessica knows how Anita got onto that panel — and what she must have against Sampson — and subtly let Anita know in the hearing through the story. When Harvey asks for the information so they can take Anita down once and for all, Jessica refuses. The point she makes is a really valid one: sometimes the best way to someone is through compassion and grace, not force. It's a lesson I hope that Harvey and Louis will learn as they continue being partners at the firm. Sometimes a show of strength is a show of subtly trusting another person to do the right thing without forcing their hand. I miss Jessica Pearson.

Everyone in the episode celebrates! Well, ALMOST everyone...

A SAD END TO THE DONNA

I love Donna Paulsen. But this episode broke my heart in regards to her story. Louis meets with patent owners on Donna's behalf. As it turns out, she and Benjamin are having a difficult time securing the patent for The Donna because it's too similar to another patent. When Louis meets with them, Donna only has one word of warning: don't lose his temper and blow any kind of chance for a deal.

To Louis' credit, he does not. But he's ambushed by the patent owners, who really just want to threaten him in person. They tell him that they'll sue Donna for $90 million if she chooses to try and pursue the patent. Again, to Louis' credit, he still doesn't blow up at the men and decides to calmly (and privately) draft up some sort of buyout deal without telling Donna. How does she find out, you ask? When she is called into a meeting with Louis, Stu, and Benjamin. At first, when Donna hears that the meeting went awry, she blames Louis. It must have been something he said or did.

But then Louis calmly presents the evidence and the buyout offer. Benjamin and Stu back him up (the latter saying that he took the offer to his own lawyers and they were shocked Louis could pull off what he did), and then the group presents the final decision to Donna: take the buyout, or don't. Either way, it seems like The Donna has reached the end of its run for use outside of the offices of Pearson Specter Litt.

Donna is crushed. It's one thing to dream, but it's another to have those dreams within your grasp and then watch as they're dissolved. Seeming to think he'll side differently, Donna presents the offer to Harvey — and he tells her to take the buyout. Honestly, I think the reality of knowing this is the right decision is heartbreaking for Donna. She really wanted to believe she could succeed outside of Harvey and the firm's shadows. She thought she was more than just a legal secretary. But the harsh words from the investors and the inevitability of a buyout weakened Donna's resolve.

She began to cry.

Kudos to Sarah Rafferty for such a sad scene. Seemingly discussing the whole of her life (and perhaps relationship with Harvey), Donna tearfully says: "I don’t want the money. I want something more, and I’ve never said that out loud, but I can’t pretend that I don’t anymore," What does Donna want, exactly? I think she wants the chance to chase and catch a dream that isn't tied to the firm. She wants to be seen as more than just Harvey's secretary. And it hurts so much to know that even though she tries to see herself that way, other people don't. Maybe there's even some subtext here in terms of what Donna wants from her relationship with Harvey. Either way, Donna is not satisfied and she breaks down because of it.

Honestly, it was such a sad scene because I'm not used to seeing Donna doubt herself or her abilities. I sincerely hope that when this show returns next season, we'll get the chance to see Donna find the confidence to keep pursuing the things that she wants in life and the things that make her happy — even if it means she has to fail a few times to do so.

Suits' season has been interesting, and I'm thankful that "Character and Fitness" was a solid end to it. With Mike now a lawyer who's still working for the clinic (but doing so out of the Pearson Specter Litt offices), it'll be nice to see the relationship dynamics restored between our show's core characters. While not everyone got their happy ending in this finale, everyone learned something a bit more about themselves in the process. And for that, I'm grateful.

Observations & favorite moments:

• In more sad news, Tara decided to break up with Louis via voicemail. This isn't sad for me, because I couldn't stand Tara. But it is extremely devastating to Louis, who just can't seem to find a love that lasts. What was most heartbreaking of all, however, was the fact that Rachel was right there beside him to hug and comfort him as he wept. I absolutely love little glimpses into the Louis/Rachel friendship because they've been through so much together. Seeing her embrace him as he mourned the loss of a relationship was bittersweet, but perfect for their final scene in the finale.
• "Shouldn't you be at the clinic saving whales?"
• Have you ever noticed that characters in Suits spend a lot of time staring dramatically out of their window-lined offices?
• JESSICA AND HARVEY HUGGED AND IT WAS ADORABLE.
• The fact that Mike is taking Harvey's office next season and Harvey is moving into Jessica's somehow just feels wrong.

What did you all think of the Suits finale and season overall? Sound off in the comments below. See you around for season seven this summer!

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The Flash 3x14 Review: "Attack on Central City" (Actual Gorilla Warfare!) [Contributor: Deborah MacArthur]

"Attack on Central City"

Original Airdate: February 28, 2017 

It’s finally happening. The Flash is making up for giving that one episode its amazing name and then not following through with some violent primate punnery. Gorilla warfare is coming to Central City! We’ve got CGI gorillas in armor. We’ve got interdimensional travel. We’ve got the murderous Grodd, who... hey, does anyone else think Grodd turned really evil for a villain who was kind of on the line before? I get that he was probably angry about getting thrown into Earth-2, but I don’t know... I feel like he would’ve appreciated being around other super-intelligent gorillas more than he did. Maybe the other kids were mean to him or something.

DEAR GRODD

Look, this was a very interesting episode and it was a lot of fun, it propelled the season plot forward a bit at the end, and it’s pretty significant for a handful of the characters. But the star of this episode is whatever team does the visual effects work for The Flash. I wrote a bit about it for last week’s episode review, but I really want to state it this week: it’s extremely, extremely impressive that this show, on a regular television network like The CW, managed the level of visual effects that it did for the last couple episodes.

When dealing with comic book shows like The Flash, I understand that productions have to budget realistically. The occasional monster here, the occasional bit of glowy doom-blast there — and with a show surrounding The Flash, especially, there has to be an allotment for zoomy effects. Lightning. Swooshing. Fire, occasionally. Blurry hands. I’m sure The Flash is expensive in the effects department on the average day, but to set aside two episodes in which The Flash fights against CGI gorillas? That’s putting up some big bucks.

And they make it work, too. Sure, both “Attack on Gorilla City” and “Attack on Central City” skirt around a few minutes’ worth of animating frames by having the psychic gorillas psychically use human puppets to speak through, but — while initially comical, especially coming through Tom Cavanagh in the previous episode — there’s at least some story reason for doing it, too. Grodd likes using his psychic powers on humans as an intimidation technique (something that works amazingly well when he briefly takes over Joe in this episode — Jesse L. Martin is so talented that he can actually sell the Grodd Voice as scary) and a way to gain power in the human world. It makes sense.

So, I just wanted to spend a little time in this review handing out kudos to the people behind the Grodd we see on screen. The job of making us, the audience, believe in the threat of a talking psychic gorilla on a bunch of superpowered people in a place as blandly named as “Central City” is not an easy one, and they managed it fantastically well.

PLOT THINGS

Is it Valentine’s Day again? There are hearts everywhere. Ugh, I don’t know. The timelines in all these shows vs. reality isn’t even that important — just remember, there are hearts everywhere. Romance is lingering. Cisco is sad about not having a girlfriend. Jesse and Wally are adorable together. These things all come into play at various moments in the episode.

First up: Cisco’s lack of girlfriend! As soon as he says it, a breach opens up and Gypsy strides through. I’m sure Cisco thinks she’s been delivered to him by Cupid (not the villain one, the cherub one) but then Gypsy starts shooting red beams of doom at everyone in S.T.A.R Labs. My favorite moment of this little sequence is when Barry superspeeds out of the way of one of the beams and everything goes slow-motion, and we can see Iris next to him, nonchalantly backing out of the path of one of Gypsy’s beams. Iris is her own superpower.

Gypsy is knocked out by Harrison Wells and locked up in one of the lab’s metahuman cells. When she comes to, she has no recollection of wanting to go on a killing spree on Earth-1, but Team Flash is now quite familiar with the powers and megalomania of a certain psychic gorilla, so Grodd is probably the culprit. Since Gypsy has the same breach-opening powers that Cisco has, they figure that she’s his way into Central City.

The plan against Grodd relies heavily on Cisco’s ability to figure out when and where the gorilla and his gorilla army will be attacking. Also, although Cisco tries convincing Gypsy to fight with them (she does basically have the same powers as Cisco, so she’d be helpful) she refuses and returns to Earth-19. Cisco is sad. Anyway, the team seems to figure out where Grodd will be attacking and they go to the site to prepare, but nothing happens... until Joe turns his gun on himself and holy crap, show, please don’t scare me with the potential death of Joe West like that. Thankfully, Barry is able to save Joe as Grodd psychically forces him to fire at himself.

A new plan (there are always more plans with these people) comes in the form of brain magnets and looking into Joe’s memories of being psychically linked with Grodd. Although Joe manages to draw a pretty decent portrait of the man Grodd is currently controlling, the team has no idea who the guy is... until they run the drawing through facial recognition software and learn that he’s a General in charge of missiles. Which are being launched. Ruh-roh!

Barry stops the launch, but not the onslaught of super-gorillas. Despite having three speedsters and a Cisco on their team, our heroes are no match against Grodd’s army. But it’s Cisco’s turn to have a plan! He Vibes off to get Gypsy and both of them return with Solovar, who challenges Grodd in the classic gorilla way... and throws him off a building. Huzzah! But the fall doesn’t kill Grodd, and Barry stops Solovar’s killing blow because of... reasons, I guess? Because they might need to bring him back for a midseason finale in the next season? I don’t know.

CHARACTER THINGS

So I mentioned that it was Valentine’s Day and then a bunch of plot stuff, which seems pretty random other than the fact that Cisco’s crush on Gypsy was rather entwined with the main events of the plot. Romance was in the air for several other characters besides Cisco, though.

Wally and Jesse are the most lighthearted and lovely little couple you’ve ever seen. Ignoring the drama surrounding Jesse’s chronically grumpy father, of course. Harry devises a little scheme, taking advantage of Wally’s naive nature to get him to reject Jesse’s plan to stay on Earth-1. By saying that he’s dying. Unfortunately for Harry, Wally is as chronically honest as Harry is chronically grumpy and he tells Jesse that her dad is sick. Also unfortunately for Harry, Jesse is not an idiot and immediately knows that her father is lying. Ha!

And the pivotal couple of the episode is, of course, Barry and Iris. Some of what Barry and Iris go through is a bit of pep-talking and soul-searching. While trying to come up with plans to fight Grodd, Barry thinks that maybe just killing the psychic, evil gorilla would be okay and I kind of agree with him, but Iris thinks doing that would forever alter Barry’s personality and what makes him a good hero. Yeah, nothing quite like that comic book black-or-white morality to make things confusing for everyone.

But I do think it’s important how Iris’s discussion with Barry shows her faith in him. While Iris has had disappointingly little to do throughout the season despite half of it hinging on her possible demise, I do like that The Flash spotlights the Barry/Iris relationship as one of mutual faith. Barry believes in Iris more than anyone else. Iris believes in Barry more than anyone else. It’s probably the most balanced relationship in any of these comic book shows: there is no emotional drama, no secrets, no lies. Just two people who love each other and like each other.

Which I guess is why, at the end of the episode, Barry drops to one knee and proposes to Iris West. The show cuts away before we can get an answer, though. Dangit.

Also, Savitar is back. Double dangit.

Other Things:

• "Do you actually want any of this, or..." "Yes... and some of the food, too." Second episode in a row where Barry and Iris broke out some flirty double meanings.
• "You want to put a bunch of magnets against my skull to look into the mind of a psychotic, murderous ape." "Yeah." "... fine."
• Barry’s rambling story about where he got the engagement ring was very sweet.
• The pause after the proposal, indicating that Iris might say no or get kidnapped or something? NOT SWEET.

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Scorpion 3x18 Review: “Don’t Burst My Bubble” (When This is Over, I Am Getting to the Bottom of Your Latest Insanity) [Guest Contributor: Yasmine]

“Don’t Burst My Bubble”

Original Airdate: February 27, 2017

It’s official — any episode that focuses on Happy will end with me in tears. There is just something about getting so much emotion from a character who’s usually closed up and unemotional that makes everything so raw and vulnerable.

This week’s episode focused mainly on Happy and Sylvester. The first has made a friend on an online forum for female mechanics while the latter has his biggest test yet — election day. And the week’s case involves the friend that Happy has made. When the other forum user fails to reply to a message, Happy senses something is off and hacks the website to find the name and address of the user. When she does, Happy discovers that she is a teenager, Ada, who has spent the last few years of her life living inside a NASA designed bubble inside her home due to a medical condition that has left her without an immune system. Unfortunately, a storm during the night has caused the roof of the house to collapse and hundreds of pounds of debris to fall on the ball, threatening to collapse it and, thus, kill Ada.

Like every week, Scorpion keeps you at the edge of your seat wondering if the team will make it in time or not. But this week it takes an extra emotional toll because it’s about a young girl’s life — a young girl who has suffered enough, whose father has dedicated his entire life to her, and this family literally does not get a break until the very last minute. Ada’s story is already heartbreaking, and with Happy’s attachment to her, I doubt there was a dry eye left after watching the episode.

When they manage to get Ada out of the bubble for a short time and she and her father hug for the first time in years, or when she steps out of the protective suit and feels the sun on her face for just that one second... it was just all too much. Scorpion may not be a show that puts too much weight on breaking its viewers’ hearts, but this week they did one heck of a job at it.

What was especially powerful were the parallels made to Happy in this storyline. For starters, this girl is the first real friend that Happy has ever made outside the team. Even if she takes her time admitting that, she finally does so with the help of Toby. Happy has spent her life in a metaphorical bubble as well, without a mother and without a real relationship with her father. She may have had the physical freedom to move around, but she has kept herself locked up, closed off from others and “sterilizing” her world from anything that may harm her — mainly friendships, connections, and anything that might break her heart again.

Both Ada and Happy were heartbreaking in this episode, but they manage to end it on a high note. The team uses VR technology to give Ada the winter formal she couldn’t attend in a very adorable and heartwarming ending to the story.

But Happy wasn’t the only one with a big change in her life this week. Election day for the Alderman of West Altadenia was Sly’s big day and he was doing very, very well. Unfortunately, his opponent (and Allie’s boss) plays dirty and manages to sway the election his way. The bad news is double for both Sly and Cabe, because Allie’s involvement in her boss’s political tactics is not something that Cabe can live with and he promptly ends his relationship with her. The good news is that Sly can still save the Warlock’s Chest — the reason he started this whole thing to begin with — because it is a historic building after all. So in way, Sylvester gets what he wanted all along. More importantly, the growth that he had during this entire campaign is absolutely tremendous. He is by far, in my opinion, the character with the most satisfying journey this season.

Finally, even though Walter was sidelined slightly since Happy took charge of the case, still gets a few moments that highlight his own journey to become a better man. And he has taken things into his own hands to not lose Paige as a friend. Throughout the episode, he shares suggestions of friendship wisdom with Toby, and that drives the latter crazy. Eventually, Toby finds out where Walter has been getting his new friendship trivia: it turns out the genius has been reading “girly” magazines and educating himself on all things friendship-related.

I think it shows great initiative and growth on Walter’s end, even if it is done comically. But Paige herself wasn’t having a great a week, considering her break-up with Tim, who has taken the promotion overseas.

So, it was a big week for a lot of people on Team Scorpion. Happy made a real friend, Sly lost the election but still got to save the Warlock’s Chest, both Cabe and Paige end their relationships, and Walter finds a new way to better himself.

All in all, it was a pretty good week for the team.

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Arrow 5x15 Review: “Fighting Fire with Fire” (Burn, Baby, Burn) [Contributor: Jenn]

“Fighting Fire With Fire”

Original Airdate: March 1, 2017

We all make small choices throughout our lives that inevitably define who we are. These choices might seem insignificant, but if we’re not careful, they turn into avalanches and sweep us up under them. There’s a cliché that people will always use whenever you’re teetering on the edge of bad decision-making — “you’re on a slippery slope.” They tell you this as a warning, because they know that it just takes one wrong step to fall and fall hard. This week’s Arrow focused a lot on the choices that we make: the conscious ones that define us. Mostly, it focused on “bad” decisions — or dark ones, at least — that lead us down paths we might not have otherwise chosen. It also marks a fork in the road for Oliver Queen as he struggles to keep up his superhero alter ego in the face of impending impeachment hearings. Elsewhere in the episode, Curtis tries to reunite with Paul, and the Vigilante tries to take down Mayor Queen. A lot of people try to do a lot of things this episode. Oh, and we get the reveal of who’s behind the Prometheus mask (yawn).

WOULD THE MEN ON THIS SHOW PLEASE STOP PATRONIZING THE LEADING LADIES?

Let’s get my big qualm with this episode out of the way: Oliver telling Thea and Felicity to restore Susan’s career and make amends. I mean, gag me with a spoon. First of all, from a realistic standpoint, even though Thea’s methods weren’t exactly perfect, they were effective in revealing who Susan was. Again: if Susan actually DID really care about Oliver, why did she still have all of that intel on her laptop? Given the chance for fame and notoriety and prestige, Susan would have turned all of that intel against him. Or, conversely, had she been burned and had credibility, she would have turned all that intel against him. I really don’t understand why the writers are making Oliver this dense or insistent that Annoying Reporter Chick actually means something to Oliver. Heck, I would take a reincarnation of Laurel at this point over Susan.

(Yes, you know it’s bad when I’d rather have Oliver/Laurel than Oliver/Susan. At least the former pair had some history — it would make some semblance of sense that he would do stupid things for her. Some. Not much, but some.)

The problem doesn’t just stop with the fact that Oliver is blinded by his “feelings” for Susan to see that Thea actually protected him well. Oliver, THE WOMAN KNOWS YOU ARE THE GREEN ARROW AND WAS BUILDING A CASE AGAINST YOU. SHE DATED YOU TO GET MORE INFORMATION. SHE MADE A VERY POINTED COMMENT ABOUT YOUR BRATVA TATTOO. DO YOU NOT REMEMBER ANYTHING? HAVE SEASONS OF CAR CHASES AND STUNT SEQUENCES FINALLY GIVEN YOU A CONCUSSION?

No, the real problem is what happens next: Oliver approaches Thea and tells her to make things right with Susan. She went too far in getting her fired (I mean, did she though? Did she really? Susan isn’t exactly a world-class journalist.), and needs to make amends. Thea, rightly, refuses to do so and won’t apologize anymore for what she did. Brava, Thea. Even though your brother is essentially trying to force your hand, at least you didn’t back down.

So then Oliver goes to his second option: Felicity. And when Felicity points out how awkward and uncomfortable and — frankly — inappropriate it is that Oliver is approaching his ex-fiance to help make things right with his disgraced former journalist girlfriend, Oliver still pushes the issue. Felicity tells HIM to fix his relationship with Susan and his mansplained response is that Susan won’t talk to him. What kind of jerk approaches his ex-fiance in order to try and restore the reputation of a woman who — objectively — doesn’t deserve to have her reputation restored in the journalistic community. (Also, Arrow, NO ONE BUT SOMEONE WITH PRESS CREDENTIALS WOULD BE LET INTO AN IMPEACHMENT HEARING. NO ONE. NO BLOGGER WOULD BE LET IN. NOT EVEN PEREZ HILTON.)

This episode pretended to be about the moral high ground: Oliver and Diggle are worried because Thea and Felicity seem to be slipping into some questionable things in order to protect the people they care about. (I’ll get to the Diggle conversation soon, don’t worry.) But the problem is that Oliver has no leg to stand on if he simply glosses over what Susan did — or would have done — to him, had Thea and Felicity not intervened. It’s not okay if Thea and Felicity protect him, but it’s totally okay if Susan hides the fact that she’s using her relationship with him to figure out whether or not he’s the Green Arrow? Sure, Jan. Sure.

Speaking of Diggle and Felicity, this week saw the former lecturing the latter about her involvement with Pandora/Helix (which Felicity officially joins at the end of the episode because glory be, if she’s going to go down a dark path, I want her down it on her own). She essentially tells him that if it wasn’t for Pandora, he would still be imprisoned. Even though I’m using the term “lecturing,” their conversation isn’t inherently antagonistic. I just was a bit overloaded by all of the men telling Felicity what she should do in the episode. Diggle makes a valid point though, when Felicity tells him that he’s one to talk: he and Oliver and everyone else have all played with fire before in order to get the job done. Diggle tells her one very important thing though: they’ve all risked getting burned in doing those things.

Diggle also sweetly tells Felicity that her superpower isn’t about her hacking skills: it’s about her empathy. The team needs her to stay burn-free because she’s the one who deeply cares for people in ways that others on Team Arrow can’t always do. They don’t want to lose her to the darkness, because then that empathy would be lost too.

And I get that. I get that Diggle is trying to be helpful in pushing the topic, and ultimately this conversation wasn’t bad or — as I said — antagonistic. It was just Diggle doing what he would do with anyone else on the team. But it just felt a bit too much in an episode where Felicity was already being pressed by Oliver to help. Funnily enough, Felicity takes what Diggle told her and turns the lesson on its head at the end: she decides to join Helix. When Felicity approaches Kojo, she tells the woman that she watched someone close to her almost die, but be saved because he had back-up.

She needs back-up, and Kojo is ready to provide that for Felicity.

I kind of love this darker trajectory that we’re seeing Felicity on. And what I really love is the fact that Felicity is on it by herself. You do you, Felicity Smoak. You do you.

MAYOR QUEEN VS. GREEN ARROW

So, in this episode, Oliver chooses a scapegoat for Billy Malone’s murder. If you’ll recall from last week’s episode, there was a leak that Mayor Queen covered up the murder in order to protect someone. We know, of course, that he’s protecting himself because he’s Green Arrow. Thea’s suggestion is to throw Billy under the bus — after all, he’s dead and Mayor Queen can say that he was protecting Billy to maintain his legacy. Oliver refuses to do this, of course.

Instead, what Oliver ultimately decides to do is throw Green Arrow under the bus instead of protecting him. In another episode, it would have been a really good scene that fixated on the fact that after all of these years, Oliver’s finally had to make a choice as far as his identity, and he’s literally had to turn himself into an enemy for people to hate. But in “Fighting Fire With Fire,” it’s a rather bland coda on an episode in which we already know Oliver and company (not to be confused, again, with the adorable animated film) will figure out a way for Oliver to maintain both identities.

I find it odd, too, that Thea told him how great Oliver was doing as mayor and that seemed to lead him to believe that he could continue making more of an impact as mayor. Maybe the show needs to do a better job of portraying this narrative, but I don’t feel like — as a viewer — I’ve seen enough about Oliver caring about his mayoral position to justify him sacrificing Green Arrow in order to keep it. I’ve seen a lot of his office and random snippets of him doing things, sure. But we really don’t know, apart from Thea’s little bit of dialogue, what Oliver has actually done to make Star(ling) City better. If the show wants to convince me that Oliver is actually a good mayor and cares about his job, they need to show it and not tell. (Classic rule of storytelling, y’all.)

Honestly, I really don’t see why I need to care about how Oliver will manage to hunt for the Green Arrow as mayor and still act as the Green Arrow. The solution will probably involve kidnapping Vigilante and dressing him up in the hood. Who knows, at this point.

OH, YEAH, A BIG REVEAL...

So we got the reveal of who Prometheus is when he went toe-to-toe with Vigilante (who spent the episode trying to kill Oliver. Prometheus wasn’t a fan). And the man behind the hood is... Adrian Chase.

Yawn.

Honestly, I haven’t been piecing together clues throughout the season about who Prometheus could be, but this still feels disappointing. A character brought in during the fifth season who we barely know anything about is this season’s Big Bad? Normally that wouldn’t be problematic, except for the fact that Prometheus is operating on the fact that he has intensely close connections to Oliver. We’ve seen zero evidence that Adrian Chase is even evil before this episode (a bit sketch at times, but not flat-out evil), and suddenly in the episode he’s being creepy around Tina and Susan.

(Which, aside: those whole “menacing” moments were super weird and campy. Adrian Chase has a normal male voice but suddenly his tone became slower and more deliberate in an attempt to be sketchier. It was odd. I don’t know if it was the actor’s choice, but it came across as really campy and though I can’t quite explain how, just re-watch those two scenes in particular.)

So yes, apparently when we get to our next episode, Prometheus will have kidnapped Susan Wells. And we all definitely care about her fate. Totally.

I have nothing else to say on the Prometheus front except the fact that I was really bored by this reveal and found the fan theory that it was Tommy to be so much more exciting. Quite frankly, not much on Arrow excites me anymore which is majorly disappointing. I’m holding out hope for the rest of the season but that seems to be pretty fruitless at this point in my journey. Sigh.

Other bits & pieces:

• I don’t pay attention to the flashbacks anymore, either. Yay!
• “That was... that was too harsh, wasn’t it?” On the plus side, the Rene/Curtis bonding we’ve had recently has started to grow on me. This episode was just delightful for them. Less delightful? The fact that Paul wants a divorce from Curtis. Ouch.
• I really want Felicity’s pink dress in this episode. Alas, it’s $295.
• Seriously, you can’t get into an impeachment hearing on blogger credentials. Geez.
• “Good man.” “Good woman.” Bless Tina.
• “It’s not blackmail, it’s politics.”
• “Do you know what your superpower is?” “Computers?” “Empathy.”
• Thea left the mayor’s office at the end of the episode and I’m really distraught about it.
• I love that there are very few sets in Vancouver so the restaurant where Curtis and Paul meet is VERY clearly just the set of Jitters, redressed. They didn’t even try really hard.

What did you all think of this week’s episode and the Big Bad’s reveal? Sound off in the comments below!

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The Walking Dead 7x11 Review: "Hostiles and Calamities" (The One Where a Secondary Character is Awarded with a Whole Episode) [Guest Poster: Nora Williamson]

"Hostiles and Calamities" 

Original Airdate: February 26, 2017 

The Walking Dead has been gaining momentum and heading toward an inevitable battle between our group and the Saviors. The past two episodes have been satisfying and strangely comedic. They have also offered amazing action sequences and have given us a respite from Negan and his hollow monologues.

After a successful two-episode run, The Walking Dead gives us “Hostiles and Calamities.” We are once again shown the inner-workings of the Sanctuary and forced to see Negan kill another person in a savage way.

Yawn.

In this episode, we don’t see anyone from our group except for Eugene. It’s one of those famous episodes that takes place at the same time as another episode we’ve seen. “Hostiles and Calamities” picks up right after Eugene is taken from Alexandria, after Spencer is killed and it’s revealed that Eugene had made a bullet for Rosita. Daryl has also just escaped from the Sanctuary.

The episode isn’t bad, but I’m not sure what we’re supposed to get out of it or how it moves the story further forward. I like Eugene because he’s socially awkward and usually has some funny lines. But do we need a whole episode dedicated to his induction to the Sanctuary?

There are a few moments of surprise in this episode and definitely a few giggles. Eugene is whimpering and shaking as he is escorted to what I imagine he thinks is a dungeon. Instead, he’s taken to a room with a fridge, comfy bed, and old school video games. We have seen what poor Daryl went through, so I guess this is what Negan means when he says he’s being “the good cop.”

I actually love it when Eugene is left alone in his room and he plays a song on the record player. It’s “Easy Street,” which he bops his head to. When we first heard that song, it was used as a torture device for Daryl, so it’s fun to see it being used in a completely different way. It still terrified me.

We get another run down as to how the Sanctuary works (people get points, people work, blah, blah, blah) and then Eugene has another meeting with Negan. Here, Eugene reverts back into liar mode and tells Negan that he worked on the Human Genome Project before the collapse happened. He also tells Negan how he can fix his fence problem with the walkers.

Negan is impressed with Eugene, although I’m not sure if he is just mostly taken by how scared Eugene is of him. He thinks that Rick was wasting Eugene’s talent, which maybe he was. Negan decides to treat Eugene right and tells him he can have a night with his wives — no sleeping with them, though. When Negan’s wives enter the episode, things get interesting. I couldn’t tell if they were trying to set Eugene up or if they were genuine. By the end of the episode, we know that they are trying to kill Negan. I like them and I hope that we see them later on. Not all of the people at the Sanctuary are bad and there must be more willing to turn on Negan, right?

Towards the end of the episode, Negan starts to ask Eugene his name but, unlike Daryl, Eugene blurts out that he is Negan. Is he just playing along? We know that Eugene is a coward, but he’s also a survivor and he stayed alive for so long because he aligns with people who will help him. Back at Alexandria, Eugene wasn’t highly regarded, but at the Sanctuary, he’s got a nice little set up. Plus, Negan finds him valuable. So, does he think that he has a better chance at the Sanctuary? As this episode happened in the past from where we are now on The Walking Dead, Eugene must figure that he has a better deal with Negan than the Alexandrians have.

We also see a B-plot with Dwight, which isn’t that compelling. So, it was Sherry, Dwight’s ex-wife and Negan’s current wife, who freed Daryl. I don’t know what we’re supposed to think about Dwight. He pretty much got the chatty doctor killed and he is at least acting like he is firmly on Team Negan, so why do we care about him? I thought that he was going to be the weak link at the Sanctuary, but I’m not sure.

Overall, there are some good moments in “Hostiles and Calamities,” but I’m disappointed that we spent another episode at the Sanctuary. I hope that we see more cracks in the Sanctuary’s core and that Eugene has something up his sleeve. But he probably doesn’t and this episode will turn out to be useless.

Final Thoughts:

• Surely, we’re going to see Sherry again, right?
• I don’t think I’ll ever see a pickle again and not think about Eugene.
• I’m so glad Negan cooled it on the monologues.
• There aren’t any “wow” moments in this episode, but the walker at the gate who lost its stomach was pretty gross.

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The Bachelor 21x09 Roundtable: Hot and Cold [Contributors: Patti, Alisa, Chelsea, Rebecca, Rae]

This week, on a short episode of The Bachelor, we finally said goodbye to this season’s villain and hello to the Northern Lights. See what Patti, Alisa, Chelsea, Rebecca, and Rae have to say about Corinne leaving and Raven’s unprecedented date.

Are you glad or sad to see Corinne leave?

Patti: Honestly, it’s time. And we are so close to the end, so I’m fine with it. But did you see how little Nick cared about letting her go? He cried so much when he sent Kristina home, but with Corinne he basically pushed her out the door! My husband was the first one to comment on it as she wept in his arms, and he was obviously looking around for the car where he could usher her into. This further supports my theory that she was kept this long by the producers only, and he just enjoyed making out with her in the meantime.

Alisa: Yeah, Nick was completely remorseless leading Corinne to the nearest exit. Their tongues may have had a strong connection all season, but Nick couldn’t wait to be done with her. It actually made me feel a little bad for her (just a little) as she clung to him sobbing, asking what she could have done differently. She’s so young and Nick is so... ugh. Ah well, she has a bright future as a cable TV correspondent ahead of her.

Chelsea: Yeah, I agree with Patti. She really was the producers’ pick this whole season because of her outrageous personality, and Nick looked so ready to get her out of there. It really was her time to go. She’s been interesting, but it was only until her limo ride out that I really loved anything she said as she advocated for her own happiness and not pleasing a man. It’s quite telling of how the producers got her to do things this semester.

Rebecca: Completely agree with all of the above. I’ve said before, Corinne and Nick simply do not have a connection, and that she’s been a prop manipulated by the producers to get people talking about the show. So I do feel bad for her, but only a little bit. It doesn’t excuse a lot of her actions, but I do have to admit that it was sad to see her weeping into Nick and him not give a crap.

Rae: It was way past time for Corinne to go home, and I also felt like she seemed really, really young during her exit. Nick, to me, seemed more brotherly than romantic when he was saying goodbye. But now that you guys mention it, it does seem like he was getting rid of her kind of quickly. I feel for her, and it does seem like her insecurities were played on during the show. Not changing yourself for a guy is a hard lesson to learn, and I can’t imagine having to go through that on national TV.

What do you think of Raven’s big reveals?

Patti: My mouth was hanging open in shock for a sensible three solid minutes. We’ve never heard anyone talk that way on these shows, and I’m still figuring out how I feel about it! As much as I don’t like Nick, we honestly have him to thank for opening up these Fantasy Suite conversations, which I do think are important and make the show more realistic and human. But did I need to know about Raven’s (non) orgasmic history? Nope, nope I didn’t.

Alisa: Well, it’s no wonder she took a stiletto to her ex. All those years of pent-up frustration lead to nowhere good. But based on Andi’s book, I don’t know that Nick is the choice candidate to turn to in her time of need. Hopefully things go well for them, but I also hope Raven tells us all about it if things are... less climactic than expected.

Chelsea: Ya know, I could have lived without that particular detail about her sex life. I’m not surprised she she had her love confession to Nick, and that part was really sweet. Raven is really the silent threat this season. I don’t think she is going to win, but she’s so consistent and watchable. I’m really enjoying her.

(Unrelated: I don’t want Nick on Dancing with the Stars. That is my break show during The Bachelor and I am so over watching him.)

Rebecca: I love Raven, and I love that she’s so open to talking about her sex life. Can you imagine the women talking like this in the first season? (Related: she posted a screencap of one of her confessionals on Instagram with a fantastic caption.) She’s so great!

And, agreed Chelsea. I’m very over Nick.

Rae: I am surprised at how much I like Raven. I love that she’s talking about her sex life — though I felt like she and Nick still couldn’t exactly talk openly about it. Didn’t it seem like Nick was holding back or being bashful? I don’t know if that’s because they couldn’t be explicit on TV, or if he just felt awkward. Either way, Raven is still great, and I felt like her declaration of love was very sincere. She seems like she’s in love!

And as we do every week, here are our standings in our Fantasy Bachelor League:

1. Chelsea (740 points)
2. Patti (690 points)
3. Rae (520 points)
4. Alisa (470 points)
5. Rebecca (460 points)

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Big Little Lies 1x02 Review: “Serious Mothering” (Murder? What Murder?) [Guest Poster: Nora Williamson]

“Serious Mothering”

Original Airdate: February 26, 2017

The second episode of Big Little Lies, “Serious Mothering,” is even better than the first. The premiere had to set up the intrigue of the murder, but the second episode lets us get more acquainted with the characters in the beautiful Monterey community. The actual investigation seems to be on the backburner. We still see what some fellow parents and the principal have to say about the main characters in their interrogations, but it’s not as often as it was in the first episode. Those interactions had been a bit clunky in the premiere, but now flow easily throughout the story.

There is a lot going on with the characters, so let's break it down.

MADELINE 

Reese Witherspoon is brilliant as Madeline and my opinion on that has not changed. What has changed is how I feel about Madeline as a character. On “Somebody’s Dead,” she’s a bit much to take. Madeline is a tour de force for sure, but she also kind of annoying.

Madeline is causing trouble again on this episode, but this time I’m liking her a lot more for it. But first, we see Madeline staring out at the ocean quietly, sipping coffee. It’s nice to see Madeline in a calm, quiet moment. There aren’t many with her. The serenity doesn’t last long. The recipients of Madeline’s wrath range from the parking attendant at Chloe’s school to the yoga teacher who tells Madeline that she might consider the pre-menopausal class.

Although it’s funny to see Madeline’s little bursts of rage, I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of it. Now, she’s even involving Chloe in one of her cage matches. Madeline is loyal, though, especially to her new friend Jane. In a discussion with Ed, we see why Madeline is so quick to befriend her. She was also a young, single mother who didn’t have any help. We haven’t seen Madeline act anything but chummy with Celeste, so we can assume that there isn’t tension there.

What’s interesting is the conversation Madeline and Celeste have about their husbands and their sex lives. We have seen what kind of sex Celeste has (more on that later) but we have barely seen Madeline and Ed as a couple. One of my biggest complaints about the first episode is that Adam Scott didn’t have anything to do. He’s one of my favorite actors and yet, Ed could have been played by anyone.

The scene when Madeline comes home and dances with Ed is really great. It’s not only good to see them as a couple, but to also see Madeline appreciate him. I have a feeling Ed does a lot but doesn’t always get credit for much. Ed and Madeline don’t have a ton of chemistry, but I definitely see them as a couple.

Ed’s scene with Madeline’s ex, Nathan, is one of my favorites. It’s the first time we really see Nathan have interactions with someone other than Madeline. I love how Ed handles himself and also threatens Nathan without really saying much.

I’m still holding out for more of Bonnie. I was waiting for an ugly confrontation between Madeline and Bonnie about Bonnie helping Abigail get on birth control. However, I thought that Madeline did well by keeping her cool but still giving Bonnie a stern warning.

Overall, Madeline became my favorite character during “Serious Mothering.” She is certainly flawed and obviously loves drama (“I love my grudges. I tend to them like pets.”) but I think she has a caring, sensible side to her. She makes a scene better with her presence.

CELESTE 

Well, we certainly see a lot more of Celeste in “Serious Mothering.” She seems like she has it all. Gorgeous husband, adorable (but kind of creepy) twins, AND a full-time nanny, even though she’s a full-time mom. We know that Celeste is definitely in an abusive relationship, but it’s not one that we normally see portrayed.

Celeste hits Perry back, although her punches don’t do any damage. Perry apologizes right away and the two have angry sex. Celeste divulges a little of her secret to Madeline, which Madeline calls “twisted.” We know that this is something that has been going on for a while because Celeste is not surprised when Perry snaps and hits her. She brings up going to counseling again. How many times have they gone?

The most dramatic scene in “Serious Mothering” is when Perry and Celeste are driving the kids to school and Celeste tells him that they can only drop the kids off. Perry is upset because he thought he’d be able to go in and meet the teacher. Perry barely raises his voice but the looks he gives and the tone he uses is so menacing. For me, it is the tensest scene of the show because it really is such a small thing and yet, I can see Perry seething. I feared for Celeste, although it seems like Perry and Celeste don’t fight in front of the kids.

Speaking of the kids, we still don’t know who choked Renata’s daughter, Amabelle. It could be Ziggy, but I’m going to guess that it’s one of the twins. Also, the twins have taken home the classroom hippo and Celeste asks in passing about Harry the Hippo’s missing leg. Considering that the twins come from a violent home, I’m guessing that they’re picking up on more than Celeste and Perry realize.

RENATA 

Oh, Renata. She makes a bad situation worse by inviting everyone in the first grade to Amabelle’s birthday except for Ziggy. Of course, this infuriates Madeline, who comes up with a plan to invite a bunch of first-graders to see Frozen on Ice on the same day. It’s petty of Madeline, especially because Ziggy isn’t her kid, but I think Madeline is always looking for a way to annoy Renata.

Renata doesn’t seem to have a lot of support from her husband. He always says the wrong thing, which makes her walk away from him in disbelief. Renata struggles with being a working mom and she knows that that makes her unlikeable. I thought that maybe Renata was blowing things a little out of proportion about there being alliances between the working moms and the stay-at-home-moms. But we hear from Madeline that she only works part-time so that she “can reign over the working moms.”

We can see that Renata is trying to have it all, but becomes frustrated easily. As much as I like Madeline, I do have a soft spot for Renata. There’s just something about her that I like.

I enjoy the scene where Renata runs into Celeste and Madeline while they’re having drinks. She comes off as kind of fake, but also like she’s trying to smooth things over from the tension from earlier in the day.

It doesn’t work.

Renata and Madeline’s war will escalate, but will it have anything to do with the murder?

JANE 

With the premiere, I found it hard to believe how quickly Madeline and Jane became friends. However, after Madeline tells Ed that she sees herself in Jane, it makes more sense. They also share a nice scene when Jane breaks down after being called to the principal’s office about Ziggy.

We still don’t know what or who Jane is running from, but I’m certain that Ziggy’s dad wasn’t simply a one-night stand. Jane still interests me, but I find her plot on “Serious Mothering” to be less compelling than the other storylines. That being said, I love Ziggy. He is the cutest. It’s also good to see that he and Chloe are actually friends and not just paired together because Madeline wants it that way.

Overall, “Serious Mothering” is another great episode of Big Little Lies. The plots that are going on with these women are so involving that it’s hard to remember that someone has actually been murdered. The women on this show continue to intrigue, and I’m counting down the days until the next episode.

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